Pop rivet woes

Hi all. I am working on the rudder (-10), and for about the third time, I seem to be breaking the ball free from the shank. So, when I try to slide the tool back down for a second squeeze, the mandrel just moves with the tool. Then, the second squeeze has no resistance.

The first time was on the shear clip/stiffener, so I could see both ends of the rivet. I could see the ball moving away from the shank when I push the tool down on the manufactured head.

What am I doing wrong, and is there a way to avoid cutting the stem and drilling out?

Brian

It happens to me from time to time. Do you have any access at all to the backside of the rivet? It may take as little as one finger to hold the stem in place while you push the tool in for another go. Or if you can rig up something, anything to get in there and push against the back side of the rivet.

As for the issue, I'm totally spitballing here, but perhaps your pop rivet tool's jaws are somehow too tight? It sounds as if they're really gripping the stem, even when pushing down towards the work. But even if that's the case, I have no idea if it's even possible to adjust that tension.

It's hard to tell without seeing it, but two things to consider. First, make sure the jaws move freely in your pop riveter. It sounds like they aren't releasing after the first squeeze. The second thing is make sure you have the right size nose piece in the riveter. I've had some weird stuff happen when the nose piece was too large for the diameter of the stem.

Verify Open

Make sure to pull the handles of your pop-rivet tool completely open. If they are even a little bit closed the mandrel may be gripped just enough not to slide further in after that first pull. I have a couple of different tools that I need to pull open in order to release broken off mandrels. Your tool may just need to be verified open to work properly.

Pop Rivet tools are finicky.

After the pull or squeeze let the spring snap the handle back to the start position. That snap against the stop seems to release the internal jaws best.

Pop Rivet Woes

I've had this happen too. usually if I can get a pair of tweezers or even the edge of a straight edged razor to put some added resistance on the shank, I can get the squeezer to move down the shank a little before squeezing again. Hope this makes sense.

I've never had to cut / abandon a rivet from this issue happening.

I have had this happen too and found that it was because the little head on the poprivet tool wasn't screwed in all the way correctly which prevented the two little jaws on the inside from behaving correctly..